10.8 net downhill Race. in two weeks.. (Read 504 times)

I'm signing up for this race instead of the 10K i was planning to do...the course is the first 10.8 mile of the Big Island Marathon that i'm hoping to do next year... the course will be net downhill from 600 ft to sea level with some hills (gullies). This is sort of unplanned but the race course is really scenic, going along mostly untouched coastline and rainforest near where i used to live. My runs have some hills and downhills but not for 10 miles...hills don't hurt me so much but downhills , they hurt... anybody have any good strategies for this sort of race, any tips for downhill running ?

Scout7

CPT Curmudgeon

posted: 3/1/2007 at 8:23 AM

I'm struggling with picturing how the slope would look.... 600 ft change over 10 miles.....that's about a 1% grade, give or take....That's not that bad. Kind of like the Broad Street 10 miler here in Philadelphia. Similar sort of course (mostly downhill, but a couple little rollie hills). Run it like you would a regular run. When you come to a steeper downhill section, just open the stride a little more, and let the hill carry you down. Don't force it, or you're gonna overstride which is gonna kill you in the long run.

Just keep it relaxed and easy in the first 4 miles--looks like that's where most of the elevation is lost. The Boston Marathon loses 273 feet in the first 4 miles and it doesn't feel at all like you're running downhill for most of it, but the damage shows up later in the race if you let yourself get carried away on those downhills.

Run it like you would a regular run. When you come to a steeper downhill section, just open the stride a little more, and let the hill carry you down. Don't force it, or you're gonna overstride which is gonna kill you in the long run.

Good advice...remember that Boston is a net downhill course, but all you hear about it is Hearbreak Hill...expect there to be some hills you must overcome... Overstriding on a downhill is a bad thing, increases the pressure on your feet/anklea/knees/etc...bad! Enjoy yourself!
Lynn B

""...the truth that someday, you will go for your last run. But not today—today you got to run." - Matt Crownover (after Western States)

thanks for all the advice...on downhill portions of my runs i've been trying to not overstride but rather try to increase turnover...i've read somewhere that one should slightly lean forward but i've tried this but it puts too much stress on my knees and ending up hurting it...it should be a fun race regardless how i do or how i feel after . The only problem is that we will pass the surf spot that i learned to surf on and surfed for a while when i was living there...hopefully the waves won't be good otherwise i'll have to stop and surf...worse case, it'll add .5 - 1 hr to my time